Pet Transport from South Korea to Singapore

Fly a Singaporean dog into Incheon and it walks out the same day. Korea recognises Singapore as a rabies-free region, so there is no antibody test and no quarantine, whatever the animal’s age.

Fly a Korean dog into Changi and it spends at least thirty days in the Animal Quarantine Centre, having had a rabies antibody blood sample drawn at least ninety days before it left. Singapore’s Schedule II, the category that allows the ten-day home quarantine, names Japan, Hong Kong, the USA and most of western Europe. It does not name the Republic of Korea, so Korea falls into Schedule III by default.

Same two cities, same six-hour flight, and a difference of roughly four months depending on which way the animal is pointing.

Singapore’s three schedules are a rabies-risk ranking. Schedule I is four countries: Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Schedule II is a named list covering most of western Europe plus Canada, the USA, Japan and Hong Kong. Schedule III is everything not named, and that is where Korea sits.

The Schedule III package is a rabies antibody blood sample drawn at least 90 days and within 12 months before the export date, at least 30 days of quarantine at the Animal Quarantine Centre, and a rabies vaccination given on arrival regardless of what the animal already has. The blood cannot be drawn until at least 28 days after a valid vaccination.

Work that through and a dog with current vaccination needs about three months from blood draw to flight, plus the month on the far side. A dog needing the vaccination first needs closer to four months before it can leave.

Nothing in Korea slows you down. The APQA visit is a single appointment on departure day. The delay is entirely Singaporean, and it starts with a blood test that most people do not think to arrange until they have already booked the move.

Space at the Animal Quarantine Centre is reserved through the Quarantine Management System at qms.avs.gov.sg, before arrival, with rabies and general vaccination records supplied at the time of booking.

There is no home option. The ten-day home quarantine that Schedule II origins can use, at S$29 per animal per day with the animal wearing a smart collar tag, is closed to Schedule III. Korean owners hear about it constantly from colleagues who moved from Tokyo or Frankfurt, and it does not apply.

Two other Singaporean steps run alongside. The import licence goes through the GoBusiness Licensing Portal at S$50 for two working days or S$100 express for one, and stays valid 90 days from issue. The arrival inspection has to be booked at least five days before the animal lands, or it becomes unscheduled and costs S$133 per hour.

And a rule that has nothing to do with the border but breaks more moves than any of the above: Singapore caps pets by home type. Non-HDB premises allow up to three cats or dogs combined; an HDB flat allows one non-specified dog or two cats, with specified dogs barred entirely. Settle the housing before the ninety-day clock starts.

APQA runs export quarantine as a single in-person appointment at the departure airport. You bring the animal, the vaccination records and whatever certificate the destination requires. The officer checks documents, examines the animal and issues the quarantine certificate. Then you go to the airline desk. The fee is 10,000 won per case.

Use the advance reservation service. Pre-registering the pet’s details online through QIA’s e-minwon system means the officer can complete the clinical exam and issue the certificate without typing your paperwork in at the counter, which on a busy Incheon morning is a genuine saving.

The Incheon Terminal 1 office sits on the third floor, central area, Room 3037, near check-in counter F and Exit 7, on 032-740-2660 and 032-740-2661. Terminal 2 is on 032-740-2028. Opening hours and any daily cut-off are not published and vary between offices, so ring the number for your terminal a few days ahead.

On carriers, both Korean flag airlines take cabin pets up to 7kg on their own networks, while Singapore Airlines takes none in the cabin on any route. Whether a cabin arrival is workable for an animal heading straight into a month of quarantine is a question worth putting to AVS and the airline together before you book, rather than assuming either way. Note too that Asiana has barred short-nosed breeds from checked baggage since 1 July 2019 and does not carry pit bulls, Rottweilers or Tosas at all, and that Singapore Airlines prohibits brachycephalic breeds outright. On this corridor a snub-nosed dog is a specialist cargo conversation.